SISTER ACT: On Sainthood, Tegan and Sara, for the first time, wrote every song together.

Pity the album. After a half-century of embarrassingly public body issues, our essential rock unit has not entered the new millennium looking very healthy. EPs are way more in vogue, MP3s have intangibility on their side, and 12-inches just sound impressive. Even AOR's great white hope, Thom Yorke, has turned his squint away from the long-player, making Radiohead into something more like a Web presence that tours.

None of this doomsaying is to suggest there aren't still masters of the craft. Our picks from this fall's schedule were made with the integrity of the album in mind. Here are 10 coming releases from bands whom we are willing to trust with up to a full hour of our awake time — that's a lot!

AIR | LOVE 2[ASTRALWERKS] | October 6 | The first single ("Do the Joy") to pull itself free of Air's forthcoming fifth album sounded as if someone had taken some Noxon to a Black Moth track — nice, but not as Airy as Air usually are. But, singles-schmingles: the most recent tease from the album, "Sing Sang Sung," is a broad autumnal sunbeam of wispy, luminous pop genius — a reminder of Air's versatility and a sign that, in the wake of Moon Safari, they haven't forgotten how to teach a master class.

BUILT TO SPILL | THERE IS NO ENEMY[WARNER BROS.] | October 6 | Earlier this year, Doug Martsch revealed his band's practical side (which was nice after all those 20-minute solos), saying, "There's no hurry for us to sell music. We can put out a record every five or six years, and that's plenty of Built To Spill." True as that may be, the tortoise-paced, repeatedly re-recorded and extensively jiggered process behind There Is No Enemy hints not just at Martsch's knack for sprawling statements but also at his perfectionism, which (when engaged) has never let us down.

MISSION OF BURMA | THE SOUND THE SPEED THE LIGHT[MATADOR] | October 6 | Since their triumphant reignition, Mission of Burma have proved themselves the most unfuckwithable band in Boston history. (Bring it!) The Sound the Speed the Light bears this out in a way that's not even funny. Informally arranged into four suites of three songs apiece, the songs pay visits to beloved Burma tropes (humor, riffage, brimstone) without ever hanging out too long. They're as fresh, dynamic, and exciting as anyone could expect from the Mission — and we still expect plenty.

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS | EXPLODING HEAD[MUTE] | October 6 | When A Place To Bury Strangers play, people listen. They can't help it — the NYC black-and-bluegaze heroes are too loud to ignore. Although they built their rep on tube-frying volume, their new batch of songs runs sawblade guitars through a newly noir — dare we say darkwave? — sound. Gear geeks will die over "In Your Heart" — and so will their earbuds. As frightening as Exploding Head may get, you must remind yourself that it is, first and foremost, an exercise in carefully controlled and highly volatile beauty. Or sonic annihilation. Whichever.

Interview: Talking with Mission of Burma's Roger Miller This weekend (January 20-21) brings a two-night stand at Brighton Music Hall for post-punk godfathers Mission of Burma, who have somehow morphed into a band that's equal parts internationally renowned throwbacks and prolific local underdogs.

Video: The 12 acts you should've seen at Bonnaroo 2010 When I told my bosses here at the Phoenix that I was going to need some time off to attend Bonnaroo for my third year in a row, I expected to hear something along the lines of, "Have fun, don't die, and we'll see you when you get back."

Six Star General and the Blood Moons hit the vinyl It was another year and another 20 or so releases from 75orLess, the Warren-based independent label run by Mark MacDougall, which cleaned up in our Best Music Poll, with 75orLess artists voted victorious in nine categories.

BOSTON PRIDE WEEK: OFF THE MAP | June 07, 2010 We may seem a little cranky, but us local gayfolk just love a parade, and we’re actually heartened by this annual influx of brothers and sisters from every state of New England and every letter of our ever-expanding acronym.

THE NEW GAY BARS | June 02, 2010 If I may channel the late, great Estelle Getty for a moment: picture it, Provincetown, 2009, a dashing young man with no discernible tan and an iffy T-Mobile signal languishes bored upon the sprawling patio of the Boatslip Resort.

ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI | BEFORE TODAY | June 01, 2010 If the gradual polishing of Ariel Pink’s sound — and it’s not all that much more polished — puts his loyalists at odds with his albums, I count that as good news.

MORE THAN HUMAN | May 26, 2010 It’s hard to talk about Janelle Monáe when your jaw’s fallen off.